1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns a gastro-intestinal device for treating addiction and other medical conditions. More particularly, the present invention concerns a device that is positioned orally, nasally, or transcutaneously in a patient's gastro-intestinal tract and that, in some embodiments, delivers medications and/or noxious stimuli over extended periods of time.
2. Description of the Related Art
Alcoholism is an addictive condition that results in severe debilitation and that destroys the lives of millions of people every year.
Therapies known in the prior art for treating alcoholism involve counseling and enrollment in support groups, but counseling-based therapies have proven to be largely ineffective, as shown by the rate of recidivism for patients that have undergone such therapies.
Pharmacological therapies have also been attempted, which involve the prescription of one or more medications that the patient must ingest form time to time. One pharmacological therapy involves the prescription of antieuphorics, such as naltrexone, which reduce the euphoria induced by alcohol and which also reduce cravings during the withdrawal phase. Another pharmacological therapy involves the prescription of antitolerance agents, such as antabuse agents or tetraethylthiuram disulfide (known in the medical trade as disulfuram), which cause a range of unpleasant symptoms upon the ingestion of alcohol. These pharmacological agents may be effective if taken as prescribed but turn out to be ineffective in the majority of cases because their intake is typically not controlled and patients are free to forego their ingestion and return to their destructive behavior. Moreover, each of these medications may cause undesirable collateral effects.
In addition to alcoholism, dependency from many other harmful substances has been treated with therapies that have proven to be either ineffective or of limited duration. In addition to substance abuse, food abuse and obesity has been identified as major health problems that lead to a variety of illnesses and that decrease self-esteem, but treatments proposed to date typically provide only temporary benefits, because the patient can decide when to discontinue the treatment, or is unable to self-discipline herself to undergo the rigorous regimen required to overcome her condition. In order to reduce weight, patients sometimes resort to surgical procedures that are not only risky and expensive, but that sometimes require a long recuperative process.
Therefore, there is a need for a therapy that effectively treats substance addiction and abuse and that is not prone to altering or tampering by the patient.
Further, there is a need for a therapy that effectively treats substance addiction and abuse, and that either reduces the euphoria associated with substance abuse or that causes an adverse reaction discouraging the addictive behavior.
Still further, there is a need for a therapy that effectively treats substance addiction and abuse and that may be reversible, transient in nature, and implemented with non-invasive or minimally invasive procedures.